Young donors give to Dubuque women's shelters

Two best friends have decided to spend their teen years creating hats for women's shelters in Dubuque. Johanna Beaves and MacHanna Higgins donated 50 hats of various sizes to the non-profit organization, Opening Doors. The organization runs the Maria House and Teresa Shelter in Dubuque.

"If I could have bottled the enthusiasm of both of those young ladies," Ann Lorenz, director of development and marketing for Opening Doors said. "They were so excited that they could have an impact on the women and children at the Maria House and Teresa Shelter, especially with the weather the way it is."

"It was cool because they were so happy," Higgins said.

The pair began looming earlier this summer and decided early on that they wanted to donate the hats they created.

"We didn't have anything to do with the hats, so we decided that we are just going to donate them," Beaves said.

Amy Beaves is Johanna's mother. She said the girls would spend countless hours at sleep-over's looming hats.

"The neatest thing is that they would babysit together. They started babysitting sometimes and they would spend their own money to go buy the yarn. They were on a mission," Amy Beaves said.

Ann Lorenz said it is not very common for Opening Doors to receive donations from such young donors. She hopes the pair inspires others to donate as well.

"I really encourage the young people to get on the phone and give these non-profits a call and find out what they need. Find out how they can help. They may think that they are to young to help but just like these two ladies, what they did had a great impact on our organization," Lorenz said.

Johanna Beaves and MacHanna Higgins both said they have already begun weaving more hats they hope to donate in the future.